The present invention relates generally to a personal sports apparatus. More particularly, the present invention is a basketball apparatus which is adapted for use by reclined individuals.
Basketball is normally a sport which requires the use of the entire body to position, shoot, and rebound a ball through an elevated hoop. The sport has acquired substantial popularity as both a professional and amateur past time, enjoyed by many individuals as routine recreation. When such an individual is incapacitated due to illness, injury, exhaustion, or disability, the desire to actively participate in the sport may not abate. There is accordingly a long-felt need to accommodate this desire for those who are confined to a less mobile status with an apparatus which will allow them to at least aim and throw basketballs without having to unduly exert themselves in ball retrieval.
Basketball devices intended for home indoor use are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,600, issued to Offrutt, discloses a door mounted basketball backboard and rim assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,860, issued to Redding discloses a backboard and hoop toy which includes a ball fastened to the backboard with string.
Various arrangements for returning a basketball from the target area are also known. Goldfarb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,605 discloses a home basketball apparatus which includes a narrowing elongated return net which is suspended between a door and a chair. The requirement of a chair or the like to provide rigid support for the net at the distal or receiving end makes this apparatus unsuitable for the bedridden. A more structured basketball return device is disclosed by Koss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,248. Both of these devices are intended for standing use. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.